There’s always a lot happening at our school. Stay in the know
about award wins, scholarship announcements, curriculum updates,
research grants, books published, career promotions, and more
good news!
Two faculty members at the San José State University School of Information, Dr. Virginia Tucker and Dr. Mary
Ann Harlan, will start the fall 2021 semester with full tenure
and new titles of associate professor. Tucker has been teaching
at the iSchool for more than 15 years, while Harlan joined the
faculty in 2010.
This June, Cherry-Ann Smart became the
18th doctoral candidate to earn her PhD through the
Gateway
PhD program, an international doctoral program at San José
State University School of Information, conferred by Queensland
University of Technology in Australia.
With deep roots in the Bay Area, Dr. Anthony Chow is eager to
bring his leadership, academic, professional, and personal
experience and background to the San José State University School
of Information as its new director. Chow makes his way to the
#1 Most Transformative
University from the University of North Carolina at
Greensboro, where he was an associate professor in the Department
of Library and Information Science. His appointment as the
iSchool’s director officially begins July 20, 2021, filling the
open position previously held by Dr.
Westwood, N.J. Children’s Librarian Denise Lester was both
delighted and surprised when she learned that she’d been honored
by the New Jersey Library Association for an ingenious pen pal
program.
A recent alumna of the School of Information at
San José State University, Lester was gratified to have her hard
work in organizing an international exchange recognized; however
last-minute technical issues while uploading her submission had
left her unsure whether or not she’d made the deadline.
Two alumnae of the School of Information at San
José State University, who are also current faculty members,
helped win the university a major grant to fund a Digital
Humanities Center at the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library. Ann
Agee, interim dean for the King Library, and Christina Mune,
associate dean of innovation and resource management for the King
Library, are co-directors of the project with Shannon Miller,
dean of the College of Humanities.
This June, two alumnae of the School of Information at San José
State University joined the prestigious ranks of Library
Journal’s Movers and Shakers. The 2021
list named Christina Jupp Grove, ’12 MLIS, as an Advocate;
and Shawna Sherman, ’07 MLIS, as a Change Agent. They are in good
company with 44 other librarians, library workers, volunteers and
vendors from across the country who were recognized for their
leadership, innovation and for “moving the library field forward
as a profession.”
The Association for Library and Information Science Education
honored two San José State University School of
Information faculty members with three of the organization’s
2021 slate of awards.
The Student Research Journal welcomes new members to the
editorial team for the 2021-2022 academic year. Tierra Holmes is
the editor-in-chief, and Kari Lease is the managing editor.
An email from an instructor and an informal application process
led to a transformative experience for a coterie of graduate
students at San José State University’s School of
Information this spring.
With this May’s issue, the Student Research
Journal celebrates its 10th anniversary. As the only
fully student-run, double-blind peer-reviewed open access journal
at San José State University, the Student Research
Journal’s contributions to the scholarship of the university
and the School of Information, and opportunities for
students—both to work as an editor and to publish as an author—
have become an integral part of the graduate student experience.
The Student Scholarship Awards Committee has chosen Samantha
Hamilton to receive the Ken Haycock Award for Exceptional
Professional Promise. Hamilton, who earns her Master of
Library and Information Science degree this May, will receive
$1,000 and a citation and will deliver the graduating
student address at San José State University School of
Information’s virtual convocation
this year.
Dr. Rachel Ivy Clarke, an
alumna of the Master of Library and
Information Science program at the San José State
University School of Information, was recently awarded the
Gail Schlachter Memorial Research Grant for her project
“The Role of Repertoire in Library Reference Interactions.” The
$5,000 grant provides support to “an individual or collaborative
group conducting research into reference or user services whose
research projects aim to better understand or answer key
questions related to connecting people to resources, information
services, and collections.”